Homeless man who returned engagement ring now has home, part-time job & is reunited wfamil

[sailingaway]

Homeless man who returned engagement ring now has a home, part-time job & is reunited with family

We had this story somewhere. I can merge this with it when I find it, but a woman who had given him a dollar or something had accidentally dropped her expensive engagement ring. He kept it for her and when she came back the next day wondering if she might have lost it there, he gave it to her. There was a facebook page trying to get money for a reward and it struck a chord and he got a huge reward. This is the follow up story.


The happy ending keeps getting happier for Billy Ray Harris. Two months ago, the homeless man who gained notice on the Web when he returned an engagement ring put in his change cup accidentally, now has a home, a part-time job, and his long-lost family.

The Kansas City, Mo., man was befriended by Sarah Darling, whose engagement ring he returned. Wanting to help, Darling and her husband, Bill, set up a fund for Harris. They hoped to raise the $4,000 he had been offered by a jewelry store on the spot for the diamond ring. Instead of selling, the 55-year-old decided to wait to see if Darling would come back for the ring. A couple of days later, she did.

As word of the story spread, so did generosity to Harris. The fund now has more than $186,000 from 8,000-plus donors. More than money, Harris has received the priceless gift of reuniting with family he hadn’t seen in 16 years. His sister, Robin Harris Williams, recognized her older brother when the story of the ring in the change cup first began circulating.

Williams tracked him down from her home in Texas. The relatives planned a reunion for the summer. But the "Today" show surprised Harris by bringing his siblings to the morning program on Sunday. Harris said, as his family sat with him, "This was a total shock." He added, "Got it all right here now."

great video at link
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/homeless-man-returned-wedding-ring-finds-family-no-143303532.html

I guess this probably goes in the 'good news' thread....

[Mani]

Wait a minute......a happy ending? On rpf? Nah....the govt can fix this story.



1 year later, the IRS sent him a bill for $50,000 for the money he received of the $186,000 received from donors. Unfortunately Bill Ray Harris and his reunited family used the money to pay off their brother's home mortgage and bought a car and are unable to pay the tax bill. Tax penalties and interest have increased the bill to over $120,000 and it appears the entire family could become homeless. Billy says their only option is to sell their brother's home to pay the bill. Hs worried if they have to sell the car he won't have transportation to get to his job and there's a real possibility he could become homeless (along with his brother) and unemployed a year later.....the IRS had no comment on this story.


Now that sounds about right....


And if this article existed I'm 100% convinced half the comments would be ridiculing the guy for not paying his taxes....

[MRK]

Wait a minute......a happy ending? On rpf? Nah....the govt can fix this story.



1 year later, the IRS sent him a bill for $50,000 for the money he received of the $186,000 received from donors. Unfortunately Bill Ray Harris and his reunited family used the money to pay off their brother's home mortgage and bought a car and are unable to pay the tax bill. Tax penalties and interest have increased the bill to over $120,000 and it appears the entire family could become homeless. Billy says their only option is to sell their brother's home to pay the bill. Hs worried if they have to sell the car he won't have transportation to get to his job and there's a real possibility he could become homeless (along with his brother) and unemployed a year later.....the IRS had no comment on this story.


Now that sounds about right....


And if this article existed I'm 100% convinced half the comments would be ridiculing the guy for not paying his taxes....

I think it's obvious that if the government were to have its say in its total support of the people he would have gotten $200,000 and a full time job instead of the paltry part time job that the hardscrabble private sector was able to scrounge up for him.

[MRK]

Really great story though. Shows how the private sector solves problems. And then as Mani pointed out, the government comes around full circle again and creates problems.

[MRK]

Kind of mad at myself that I can't end this happy story on a positive note. At least he's with his family. And the government can't take that away, at least until he goes to the FEMA camps or he gets jailed for vagrancy or tax evasion.

Damn it...

:)

[sailingaway]

Kind of mad at myself that I can't end this happy story on a positive note. At least he's with his family. And the government can't take that away, at least until he goes to the FEMA camps or he gets jailed for vagrancy or tax evasion.

Damn it...

:)

I expect he was warned about the taxes, and that is still @$90,000 to get him back on his feet.

[fr33]

Good news.